OVERSCHEDULED KIDS,
UNDERCONNECTED FAMILIES FACT SHEET
William J. Doherty, Ph.D.
University of Minnesota
Time Changes for Young Children and their Families Since the Early 1980s.
- Children have lost large amounts of free time. They play less, and their unstructured time has declined significantly.
- Children's structured sports time has doubled.
- Their time spent "on the sidelines" watching siblings and others play has increased five-fold.
- Children on average spend 50 percent more time studying than they did twenty years ago, with little to show in overall academic gains.
- The time children spent eating at home has declined by 10 percent.
- Their time in religious participation has declined by 40 percent.
- Families' household conversations (talking together as a family, with no other activity going on) have declined from infrequent to non-existent, on average.
Other Changes in Family Time since the mid-1970s.
Family vacations have declined by 28% since the mid-1970s.
- Family dinners have declined by one-third, based on the number of families who report that their whole family usually eats dinner together.
- Although TV watching has increased in American homes, watching TV as a family has declined by nearly 25%. TV has become a more solitary activity.
Value of Family Meals
- For young children, meal time at home is a stronger predictor of academic achievement and psychological adjustment than time spent in school, studying, sports, church/religious activities, or art activities.
- For teens, having regular dinners with parents is a strong predictor of academic success, psychological adjustment, and lower rates of alcohol use, drug use, early sexual behavior, and suicidal risk.
Children's and Teens' Concerns About Family Time
- A 2002 national poll of children ages 9-13 found that only a third say they spend a lot of time with their parents. When asked why, they offered two major reasons: parents work schedules and their own schedules.
- A 2000 national poll of teenagers that asked about their worries and concerns found that "not having enough time together with parents" tied for first (along with educational worries) as the chief concern.
All studies based on national, representative samples of families. References available at www.puttingfamilyfirst.info, or from Bill Doherty (bdoherty@che.umn.edu).
